Saint Panteleimon's is an Orthodox Christian parish of East Slavic tradition serving the New South Wales Central Coast and the northern suburbs of Sydney. Our parish includes Orthodox Christians of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, and other backgrounds. We are a parish of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church, is completely independent in pastoral, educational, administrative, management, property, and civil matters. Our parish is doctrinally Orthodox, liturgically traditional, and welcoming to all. In our services we use English, the language of this country, together with Church Slavonic, the liturgical language of the Slavic peoples. Established in 2000, our parish is one of the newest in our Diocese.
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We have services on the first and third Sundays of each month and on the preceding Saturday evenings. We also have services on some major feast-days during the week. Our current Schedule of Services can be viewed here. Our church is generally only open when we have services. Visitors are always welcome! If you would like to contact us before visiting, it is best to send an email. We check this inbox regularly and will respond to messages within 24 hours. You can also contact us in the same way to arrange baptisms and memorial services. Please don't hesitate to reach out!
Our parish priest, Archpriest James Carles, serves here in a voluntary capacity. He has part-time secular employment during the week and is presently undertaking full-time tertiary study. In addition to our parish, he has responsibility for Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Newcastle and Saint Symeon of Verkhoturye Orthodox Mission on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. During study periods (in 2025, 17 February-12 July and 21 July-15 November) his pastoral availability is strictly limited to scheduled services in the three communities; individual “needs” that arise in connection with these scheduled services (e.g. confessions, molebens, and memorial services); essential parish administrative tasks; and end-of-life care and funerals. Father James is available to talk after Divine Liturgy on the Sundays when we have a service. He can also be contacted by email.
Our parish is a small one that relies on community support and the voluntary service of our clergy to make ends meet. If you find this website to be of interest or of assistance, please consider helping us. Donations may be made directly to our bank account:
St Panteleimon Russian Orthodox Community of Gosford
BSB: 032-596 Account number: 140923
May the Lord bless you!
Our parish will have Matins at 6.00pm on Sunday 13 April and at 7.00pm on Monday 14 April, Tuesday 15 April, and Wednesday 16 April. The Hours, Typika and Vespers with Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Great Thursday, 17 April. On Great Friday, 18 April, Vespers with the bringing out of the Shroud of Christ will be served at 12.00pm and Matins with Lamentations before the Tomb of Christ will be served at 6.30pm. On Great Saturday, 19 April, the Hours, Typika and Vespers with Divine Liturgy will be served at 8.00am and Midnight Office will be served at 11.20pm. Paschal Matins, to be followed by the blessing of Easter baskets and by Divine Liturgy, will begin at 12.00am on Sunday 20 April. At 11.00am on Sunday 20 April we will have the Paschal Hours and Vespers, followed by a further blessing of Easter baskets. Some other traditional Holy Week services will be served at Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, Wallsend (Newcastle).
On Sunday 6 April and Monday 7 April we had services for the Great Feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Sunday evening, and the Hours, Typika, Vespers and Divine Liturgy were served on Monday morning. At Divine Liturgy we were joined by friends from the Wallsend parish and prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.
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On Saturday 5 April and Sunday 6 April we had services for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. All-night vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. The regular Sunday services were preceded by the Lesser Blessing of Water and followed by a moleben to Saint Tikhon the Confessor, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America (+7 April 1925). At Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine. In his sermon, the rector spoke about Saint Mary of Egypt and about Saint Tikhon. Following Divine Liturgy the church vestments were changed to blue and the church was decorated in preparation for the services for the Great Feast of the Annunciation.
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On the evening of 27 March, Thursday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent, our parish rector presided at a General Service of Anointing with Oil (Holy Unction). Approximately 30 people, both our own parishioners and friends from the neighbouring Wallsend parish, gathered to pray and receive anointing with oil for the healing of soul and body. The readings and prayers were alternately in Slavonic and English.
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On Saturday 15 March and Sunday 16 March we had services for the Second Sunday of Great Lent and in honour of Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (+1359 AD). Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. Our church was beautifully decorated with flowers donated by the family of the late Nina Lichman (+17 February 2025). As Saturday 15 March was a day of commemoration of the departed, Matins was preceded by a general panikhida. As an act of kindness in memory of their departed ones, those attending the panikhida brought non-perishable foods to be passed to a local charitable organisation for relief of the homeless. At Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine. We were joined by friends from Sydney and Newcastle. At the end of Divine Liturgy prayers of blessing were read over a new black set of priest’s vestments that will be used for the first time during Holy Week this year.
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On the first four evenings of the First Week of Great Lent (3-6 March), Great Compline with the reading of the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete was served. The odes of the Great Canon were read by the parish rector alternatively in Church Slavonic and English. During Great Compline many of those present participated in the reading and singing in both languages.
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On Saturday 1 March and Sunday 2 March we had services for the Sunday of Forgiveness. All-night vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine. Immediately after Divine Liturgy, Vespers with the rite of asking forgiveness was served. Following the services on Sunday our Ladies’ Auxiliary served pancakes.
This year, 2025, is the centenary of the repose of two great hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church: Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (31 January 1865 - 7 April 1925, canonised 1981) and Saint Jonah, Bishop of Hankow (17 April 1888- 20 October 1925, canonised 1996). In recognition of this significant anniversary, the Synod of Bishops of our Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia has called upon the bishops and clergy to make a particular effort to remember these two holy bishops. To this end, they are to be commemorated at the dismissal of each Divine Liturgy up until the Great Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (4 December, the day of the Patriarchal enthronement of Saint Tikhon in 1918) and to remember Saint Tikhon in a sermon and with a moleben on Sunday 6 April, the Fifth Sunday in Great Lent and the eve of the anniversary of his repose. We will also serve a moleben to Saint Jonah on Sunday 19 October, the Ninenteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the eve of the anniversary of his repose. Holy Hierarchs Tikhon and Jonah, pray to God for us!
